Syracuse, N.Y. -- Aly Wane held “A Coming Out of the Shadows Party” this afternoon to formally announce his status as an undocumented immigrant.

Wayne, 35, left his native Senegal at the age of 9 and has been in the United for more than half of his life. Wane estimates there are thousands like him scattered throughout Upstate, and he wants to counteract what he sees as the stereotyping of millions of undocumented immigrants, roughly 400,000 of whom are deported every year to nations of origin.

“I’ve lived in this country long enough to know that I am an American,” Wane said at a news conference at all Saints Church on Syracuse’s East Side. Nearly 100 people attended the news conference, which was followed by a dinner party in the basement of the church. He was joined by immigration lawyer Jose Perez, activist Ute Ritz-Deutch and the Rev. Kevin Agee.

Wane said he has no received no response yet from government officials since he announced his status in a news story today in The Post-Standard. Many others in his position have done the same thing across the United States in the past 18 months, and the government response has varied, he said.

“Most have not been physically deported,” he said, “but at this point, it’s too early to tell.”

Wane said his public announcement is intended “not as a militant act,” but to reject the fear that many people have of undocumented families and to “invite the community to have a conversation.”

“The issue is all about fear,” he said. “I’m trying to get people to calm down, to calm the hell down. . . . Undocumented aliens are not after your babies, they’re not after your jobs.”

View full sizeGary Walts / The Post-StandardAly Wane, an undocumented immigrant from Senegal, speaks at a press conference at All Saints Church, on Lancaster Avenue in Syracuse.

Even before his public announcement, he woke up every day realizing that federal agents could arrive at any time to begin a process that would eventually send him back to Senegal.

Eleven days ago, President Barack Obama announced that he would no longer deport undocumented immigrants who’ve lived here since before they were 16, as long as those immigrants are 30 or younger. An estimated 800,000 immigrants fall within that category. While Wane said he is happy for friends who meet the criteria, it didn’t help him because he’s 35.

While he was studying at Le Moyne College in 1999, he learned that his mother, a diplomat, had been murdered in Zimbabwe. Wane was 23, and his visa had already expired. Rather than return to Senegal, he decided to stay in the country he considered his home.

Six years ago, he was welcomed into the Syracuse home of Peter and Diane Swords. Peter is a social worker; Diane teaches at Syracuse University.